Illinois Mom Turning Lemons into Lemonade to Honor Son

Jill Zuleg experienced every parent's worst nightmare in the fall of 2010 when her son, Kyle, tragically perished in a horrible accident. While on a family camping trip, a large tree branch fell on Kyle while he was playing a game in the woods. However, in the pain of losing her son, Jill found the motivation to make a difference and turn something bad into something good.

Family camping (Photo credit: Wikipedia - PLEASE NOTE that photo is NOT of the the Zuleg family. It is included here for illustration purposes only.)

Kyle was an organ donor who donated seven organs to five recipients. After his death, Jill formed the Kyle Zuleg Foundation. The organization gives memorial scholarships and comfort blankets to the families of organ donors. In fact, the Kyle Zuleg Foundation to date has given out 15 scholarships to high school students helping them to attain their dream of a college education. The comfort blankets the foundation distributes are embroidered with a special message that says "Forever In Our Hearts."

Recently, Jill was one of only five people nationwide honored with the "Inspired Comfort Award" by Cherokee Uniform Company, makers of medical apparel. Realizing that after her son's tragic death she had a choice to make, Jill said, "I had to choose to move forward and take this horrible, horrible tragedy, which I cannot change, and turn it into something positive." She has done just that.

Like Jill, you can make lemonade out of lemons and turn a tragedy into something good. Just visit the website for the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation, Inc. at www.SaveLivesTN.org by clicking here and register to be an organ and tissue donor.

Read more : article on ChicagoTribune.com titled "Woman Honored for Work Promoting Organ Donation"

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Making Plans and Holding On

Molly Pearce, 24, has her future planned out with her boyfriend, Corey Eaker. They have cruises to go on and trips, including ones to New York and Australia, to take. They even have the names, Peyton and Colt, of their two future children planned out. However, there is one thing that must happen first in order to see their plans come to fruition - Molly needs a transplant.

Molly needed an intestinal transplant at birth, but such a surgery did not exist at that time. She lived on a liquid diet until she received the needed transplant at the age of 13. However, at the age of 12, a medical error put Molly even further behind the 8-ball. She was given an antibiotic that should have only been given to hospital in-patients. Worse yet, the dose she received was too large. The error severely damaged Molly's kidneys putting her way behind on the road to recovery.

English: Doctor Preforming An Organ Transplant. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After the intestinal transplant, Molly could eat solid food for the first time in her life, and doctors thought, and hoped, that the additional nutrition she was getting might heal her damaged kidneys. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. So, in 2007, Molly's mom donated a kidney to her. By all accounts, the combination of the intestinal and kidney transplant gave Molly the two best years of her life.

Unfortunately, 2012 saw things take a turn for the worse. Molly went to a local emergency room, because she was feeling bad. While there, she was given the wrong type of blood leaving her in need of a four-organ transplant, including liver, kidney, pancreas, and small intestine. The toughest part is that all four organs must come from the same donor, and Molly is running out of time.

Molly's story is a difficult one. In need of one transplant at birth, she finds her self needing an even more complicated transplant at the young age of 24 through no fault of her own. Molly needs a hero and needs one soon. There are over 117,000 Americans like Molly currently needing life-saving transplants from heros, too. The good thing is that we know what the solution is - it is more Americans registering as organ and tissue donors.

For more information about organ and tissue donation, including how to register in the state where you live, please visit our website at www.SaveLivesTN.org. One day, you might be a hero to someone like Molly.

Be a hero - register today.

Read more : www.smdp.com article titled "SMC Student Holding Out for Four Organ Transplant"

9-Year-Old Receives 6-Organ Transplant

New England area

Nine-year-old Alannah Shevenell recently received a 6-organ transplant. The little girl received a new small intestine, stomach, pancreas, liver, spleen, and part of an esophagus. In doing so, she set a New England-area record for the most organs transplanted at one time.

Alannah's record-setting transplant was necessary, because a rare cancerous growth called an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor had spread it's tentacles throughout her abdomen. The tumor caused swelling, pain, and an inability to eat. Alannah's doctors made two failed surgical attempts to remove the huge tumor. Chemotherapy had failed to rid Allanah of the monster, also. Her only hope for survival was to remove the tumor and all the organs and tissues it had wrapped itself around.

Alanah spent a year waiting on the needed transplant which doctors only gave her a 50% chance of surviving. However, she survived the surgery, despite its complexity, and the great blood loss that went with it. She is now doing well and learning how to adjust to her new routines, such as avoiding crowds and taking numerous medications. After spending three months in the hospital recovering from her transplant surgery, Alannah's just fine with all the adjustments saying that she's happy, "Just being home."

For more information about organ and tissue donation, including how to register as an organ and tissue donor in your area, please visit the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation's website at https://www.SaveLivesTN.org/ by clicking here.

Read more - today.com article titled "Maine Girl Bouncing Back After 6-Organ Transplant"

A Special Christmas

Doctors at Emory University Hospital recently achieved a first for a hospital based in Georgia - a triple organ transplant. In doing so, they gave 38-year-old Stephanie Lindstrom an opportunity to spend another Christmas with her family.

Diagram of the human heart 1. Superior Vena Cava 2. Pulmonary Artery 3. Pulmonary Vein 4. Mitral Valve 5. Aortic Valve 6. Left Ventricle 7. Right Ventricle 8. Left Atrium 9. Right Atrium 10. Aorta 11. Pulmonary Valve 12. Tricuspid Valve 13. Inferior Vena Cava (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stephanie was born with a congenital heart defect. Her heart did not have a tricuspid valve, which keeps blood moving through the heart in the right direction. As a girl, she had four surgeries to correct the problem. Then, after college, she developed an additional heart valve problem - mitral valve regurgitation. Doctors determined that the mitral valve problem needed to be corrected, too.

Stephanie's multiple heart surgeries had failed to correct her heart problems. It was determined that she needed not only a heart transplant, but also a liver transplant, because her heart failure had caused liver failure. On top of that, Stephanie had become septic which resulted in kidney damage and the need for a kidney transplant.

Stephanie received the life-saving heart and liver transplants she needed on July 7, 2012 and her kidney transplant the next day. After spending three months in the hospital, she went home in October and spent a special Christmas with her family. She said, "The holiday season has truly taken on such a special meaning to my family and me this year because of the many gifts we have been given."

Interestingly, Stephanie's new heart, liver, and kidney all came from the same donor who is a hero that The Lindstrom Family will be forever grateful to. For more information about organ and tissue donation, including how to register as an organ and tissue donor where you live, please visit the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation, Inc.'s website by clicking here.

Read more : article on news.emory.edu titled "Emory Performs First Triple Organ Transplant in Georgia"